The display of winter squash at the National Heirloom Expo is daunting for a photographer – soooo many potential subjects. This year I decided to photograph all the pumpkins. Grown by Durst Organic Growers, the main exhibit hall was filled with hundreds of fantastical gourds laid out in small groups on large rows of tables. But indoors ? [...]
It is easy to get overwhelmed when trying to find a photo in a beautiful garden. We garden photographers want to capture everything before the moment passes. We know garden beauty is ephemeral and changes at the drop of a leaf or shifting of the light. But to make a “good” garden photo, slow [...]
Plants are the core of gardens, they are the core of garden photographs. When we photographers picture plants we need to consider why gardeners grow them in the first place. What are the core distinctions ? What is the essence of a garden plant? A photograph of a plant should be as carefully considered as was [...]
Photographers talk about “The Light” in reverential terms. It is the life blood of outdoor photography no less than it is the lifeblood of plants for photosynthesis. Learning how to read the quality of light is the single most important skill in good garden photography. I have talked about it for years here at Gardening [...]
Shadows are as much a part of a Southern California summer as sunshine itself. These play with the imagination like a midsummer day’s dream. Above: Flowers of a columnar euphorbia. Above: Aloe flower and stair rail. Above: Gazania bloom. Above: Cyphostemma buds and leaf. Above: A garden chair seat. Above: Pilosocereus pachycladus. Above: Echeveria agavoides. [...]